Radon Testing Can Save 21,000 Lives Each Year

Radon Tee Travels Boston’s Freedom Trail to Promote Radon Awareness

Ward Hill, MA, July 30, 2010 – For more than six hours on a sunny Friday, the Radon Tee World Trek 2010 traveled Boston’s historic Freedom Trail, making native Bostonians and tourists aware that cancer-causing radon might be hiding in their homes. More than 21,000 people die annually in the U.S. alone from radon-induced lung cancer, the number one cause of lung cancer in nonsmokers. Many of the lung cancer deaths caused by radon exposure can be prevented by a simple home radon test.

From Boston Common to Bunker Hill, Massachusetts Radon Tee World Trek volunteers Pat Everett and Elyse Goldstein, displayed the black-and-white T-shirt at locations all along the Freedom Trail, stopping to talk with and photograph people and historic monuments with the Tee as part of the worldwide publicity campaign.

"Many people we spoke with were aware of radon as a cancer risk," says Pat Everett, "but only a few had tested their homes, and still fewer had homes with radon systems. One man at the Swan Boats in the Public Garden said his home tested high for radon and asked us how to reduce the radon level, so we helped him find a certified radon mitigator. It’s obvious that the Radon Tee campaign and other radon awareness efforts are sorely needed to make people not only aware that radon exists but that it is a risk to them and their loved ones."

Sponsored by Cancer Survivors Against Radon (CanSAR), the Radon Tee World Trek 2010 symbolizes the need for all homeowners to test their homes for radon and fix them if radon levels are high.

David Naggar, Director of Marketing for Spruce Envionmental Technologies of Ward Hill, Mass., is the captain of the Massachusetts Radon Tee team. Along with other members of the team, he has taken the Radon Tee on its radon public awareness tour in Massachusetts. The Freedom Trail was one of several stops on the Massachusetts leg of the Tee’s World Trek to promote radon testing and mitigation and to encourage support for CanSAR. Photos from the Radon Tee tour are online at www.facebook.com/radontee.

Radon, an odorless, invisible, tasteless, radioactive gas can be present in any home. Massachusetts – and most of New England – is at higher risk for elevated radon levels than the national average. In fact, a Massachusetts DEP study of homes in Essex County reported that more than one-third of homes tested had radon levels higher than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recommended action level of 4.0 pCi/L. The EPA estimates that more than 700 Massachusetts residents die each year from radon-induced lung cancer.

The Radon Tee message is clear: Reduce Radon. Save Lives.

For more information on CanSAR and how to participate in the Radon Tee's World Trek, go to www.cansar.org.

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About Spruce Environmental Technologies, Inc.

Spruce Environmental Technologies, Inc., an Energy Star Partner, was founded more than 20 years ago with the purpose of making indoor air safer. Spruce is the parent company of RadonAway, the world’s leading manufacturer and distributor of radon mitigation fans and supplies; AccuStar Labs, which manufactures and analyzes radon test devices in certified laboratories in Medway, MA and Lebanon, PA; and HomeAire, a manufacturer and distributor of indoor air quality products. Spruce is committed to saving lives through creating a healthier indoor environment and through radon awareness, testing and mitigation; it is a founder of CanSAR and long-time member and supporter of the American Association of Radon Scientists and Technologists (AARST).